Politics

U.S. to Push for Israeli Seat on U.N. Security Council

President Obama's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, is a late convert to the pro-Israel cause, but today she promised to fiercely advocate for the Jewish state, including fighting to help Israel obtain a nonpermanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Power, a close confidante of President Barack Obama and a former top White House official, received a warm welcome today at her confirmation hearing to replace Susan Rice as the U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. But senators pressed Power on her previous statements that caused a rift between her and elements of the pro-Israel community. Her answers showed that she has come around to the view that America’s role at the U.N. is to staunchly defend its top Middle East ally and to oppose Palestinian efforts to seek greater international recognition.

“The United States has no greater friend in the world than the state of Israel,” Power told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday. “We share security interests, we share core values, and we have a special relationship with Israel.”

She criticized the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Human Rights Council for repeatedly passing resolutions criticizing Israel and delegitimizing the Jewish state.

“And just as I have done as President Obama's U.N. adviser at the White House, I will stand up for Israel and work tirelessly to defend it,” she said.

Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) asked Power directly if she would work to support Israel’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, which contains five permanent members and 10 rotating seats assigned by region. Israel, which has never sat on the Security Council, wants to be admitted as a representative of the Western European group of countries, due to its poor relations with its Middle Eastern neighbors.